


The value of strength

by hkandi



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awesome Howling Commandos, Bucky Barnes Is a Good Bro, Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers Feels, But the plan changes - it's war after all!, Captain America: The First Avenger, Developing Relationship, Feelings Realization, Gen, M/M, Mission Fic, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Winter time is cold, World War II, man with a plan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27774520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hkandi/pseuds/hkandi
Summary: A slightly alternate look at "Captain America: The First Avenger." What if Steve tries to process not only the changes in his life in becoming Captain America, but in how he feels, how he's always felt, about Bucky? Can Steve lead the Howling Commandos to victory and take down HYDRA? Will he save the day? And what's that damn tune Bucky's always humming?
Relationships: Howling Commandos & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes & Howling Commandos, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter & Steve Rogers
Comments: 5
Kudos: 26
Collections: Heart Attack Exchange 2020





	The value of strength

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_Plaid_Slytherin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Plaid_Slytherin/gifts).



> Written in two weeks for the Heart Attack Challenge. I hope you like it, The_Plaid_Slytherin! I've never written for this fandom before or for these characters, and not for a past time era, if that makes sense. So I hope I did it justice!

(I don't own any characters etc etc)

Steve couldn't help but smile as he pulled the envelope from underneath his pillow, where he had tucked it before his shower.

It was his second letter from Bucky, which was fortunate given that it came all the way from Europe.

"Glad you're not getting too cosmopolitan to write me," Steve thought, as he opened it.

He smiled as he saw Bucky's familiar handwriting, and bit back a laugh as he read about a prank his friend pulled on someone.

"Hope boot camp is going well for you," Bucky wrote at the end of the letter. "I know I wasn't thrilled with you trying to get recruited for the umpteenth time, but I know it's what you want, and that you're a good man to have fighting for Uncle Sam."

Steve slipped the letter back into its envelope and rolled onto his back on his bed, arms under his head as he thought about the last time they saw each other. 

Bucky had just gotten his orders to ship out, and Steve had gotten his butt near handed to him by that jerk in the movie theater; Steve still frowned about the guy's rude behavior. But, Bucky had wanted a fun last night on the town, and found them two girls to take to the future technology exhibit - "World Exposition of Tomorrow!"

Sure, a flying car was neat, but it didn't hold a match to spending the last few hours with his best friend. What was it Bucky had said to him when they were walking there? 

"I don't see what the problem is," Bucky said, clearly trying to cheer him up. "You're about to be the last eligible man in New York. You know, there's three and a half million women here."

Even now, a pit settled into Steve's stomach when those words played over and over in his mind.

"Well I'd settle for just one," he'd said to his friend, not really believing his own words. Just one Sergeant Barnes, more like.

They had been friends for as long as either could remember, and Steve still wasn't sure when it began to feel like something else for him.

Seeing Bucky in his uniform didn't help, especially that night, his hat tilted at such a cocky angle, like he knew he was killer-diller.

Steve would never say anything to his friend, never risk jeopardizing their friendship. He wasn't even sure what he felt. A crush? Yes, without a doubt. Jealousy? Sure, when Bucky was recruited right away. And when he would smile his perfect smile at whatever woman caught his eye. But was it all just hero worship? Steve wasn't sure.

"Look at you," he had said to Bucky. "Going off to war, to be a big hero. Make sure you don't forget about us little guys."

Bucky was already a hero, to Steve, anyway. He had always looked up to him, and always would.

Bucky had smiled that crooked grin of his and slung an arm over his shoulder as he dragged him off. "Nothing will change about us, we're best friends now and always will be."

Whatever they were, whatever Steve wanted them to be, whatever he felt, it was all behind them until the war ended, Steve thought, praying they would both make it home safely.

He moved off his bed and dug around his footlocker, pushing books to the side as he grabbed pen and paper to write his friend back.

After all, it was just another day or two until the big procedure was happening, and then Steve wasn't sure when he'd be able to write next. He had written back to Bucky's first letter so long ago, or so it felt, he wasn't even sure Bucky had received it yet.

He wrote lengthy reactions to Bucky's letter, pausing when he thought about what to write about his own training. Should he tell him he had been the smallest in the unit? Nah, that was a given.

Steve thought about his struggles on the obstacle course, how his team had kicked the low crawl so that the barbed wire enveloped him. He still didn't know how he'd gotten out of it, exactly...

"Training is...training," he wrote. "I'm learning a lot, and getting stronger every day. Oh, and I threw myself on a grenade. Fortunately, it wasn't live."

He frowned and crossed out the last two lines, then groaned. He might as well start a new letter, he thought, no sense in sending it as it was to his friend.

Steve re-wrote the letter, then added more about the big news.

"I don't think I told you yet, but I got some big news! Well, of course I didn't tell you in my other letter, I didn't even know til not too long ago. Anyway, the army told me they were bringing me in (finally) because they want 'the little guy,'" he wrote. "And they don't get any littler than me, huh? Then they picked me out of my unit to really kick things up a notch. Well, I'm not really sure how to explain it, and it's a bit hush-hush, but cross your fingers for me!"

He added a few more lines before signing it and sealing it in an envelope; he would mail it in the morning.

_________

Two days later, Steve woke. It was the morning of the procedure, and Dr. Erskine's words were running through his head.

"Not a perfect soldier, but a good man."

He had Bucky to thank, in part, for that, for being a good man. 

After all, Steve smiled to himself, takes one to know one.

He was not ashamed to admit that thoughts of Bucky kept him comforted, sane, all morning as he prepared for the unknown.

In the car, Agent Carter had seemed amused (or was it bemused, he thought to himself) by him and his inability to talk to women.

"Figured I'd wait, for the right partner," he had told her. She hadn't pushed it, clearly lost in her own thoughts, but he stared out the car window thinking about his friend.

That being said, after the procedure, after all the other events occurring immediately after it, after they were recovering from the good doctor's assassination, he was in shock, utter shock, about the results.

"Not a perfect soldier, doc?" he mused as he looked at his new body. "Looks pretty perfect to me!"

He was big, bigger than he would have thought possible, and in every way possible.

He'd have to get new uniforms, he thought. The dress uniform would really suit him now. 

Thoughts of Bucky in his uniform flashed through his mind. What would he think of him, this new him?

_________

If Steve thought the events in the hours, then months, after his change were surreal, it was nothing compared to when he went abroad to entertain the troops and boost morale. What was it, a day in Italy? Hours?

The jeers from the "real" soldiers, the ones in the trenches (at times, literally), the ones truly fighting the war.

His heart sinking at learning Bucky was dead.

Jumping out of the plane, infiltrating the HYDRA base, freeing the soldiers.

And then, against all odds, finding Bucky.

Steve pushed these memories aside and inhaled deeply before releasing his breath, as he paused outside a medic tent.

"He's okay," he reminded himself. "He's here."

He pulled the tent flap aside and entered, squinting slightly in the dimmer light.

There, on the far side, Bucky was being checked out, some scrapes and bruising bandaged up.

"How is he, doc?" Steve asked as he joined them.

"All considering, quite well," the medic said. "He'll still need some rest, some food, but no more or less than the others. Good work out there," he said, nodding at Steve.

Steve smiled shyly. "It was nothing remarkable, what anyone else would have done."

"A lot of other guys would have run away from a fight," Bucky said, eyes gleaming as he teased him, as the medic walked away to give them privacy.

"You start running, they'll never let you stop," Steve replied, automatically. He relished the familiar banter. "How do you feel?"

"Like the Nazis took me prisoner and tried to scramble my brains. Good thing it didn't work out. How do you feel?"

"Me?" Steve asked, surprised.

"Yeah, you," Bucky said, nodding at him as he laid down, folding his hands behind his head. "Look at you."

"Ah, this. Well, this isn't as new for me, but, sure, it took some getting used to." Steve coughed awkwardly as he pulled a chair over and sat at Bucky's bedside.

The irony of the situation caught him off guard. How many times had he been the ill one in bed, bulldozed by life, as Bucky kept him company and kept his spirits up?

"I still can't believe it all," Bucky said, shaking his head and drawing Steve out of his thoughts.

"All what?"

"That you grew."

"Me?" Steve asked again, this time sarcastically.

"You, this you, you being here, you saving me." Bucky ran a hand through his dark hair. "Of all the places, all the ways to see each other again! This is all just incredible!"

"You don't have to tell me," Steve laughed.

They sat in comfortable silence, stealing glances at each other.

"So," Bucky said a few minutes later. "What now? What will you do?"

"I don't want to go back to being in Uncle Sam's dog and pony show," Steve sighed. "Not when I can put myself to good use. Saving you and the others, I can keep doing this." He paused. "We can keep doing this."

"We?"

"Yeah, we, you and me. Back together, fighting the bad guys!" Steve stood and began to pace around the bed as he talked. "When you're feeling better, fully back up and running." He paused and looked at Bucky. "We could put together a unit of other good guys, guys we trust. The best guys, and really make a difference. What do you say?"

Bucky studied him and grinned. "I say, where's that little punk from Brooklyn gone?"

"What?"

"I like this new you. I mean, I liked the old you, but this is...the real you. You're really shining! No hiding in the back now."

"I couldn't even if I wanted to," Steve laughed. "Look at me!"

"Ah, now I'm the short friend who'll make you look good," Bucky sighed. "This is all a horrible dream, right?"

Steve smirked and patted him on the shoulder. "I'll still save a dance for you, when this is all over. Til then...?" 

"Let's do it," Bucky agreed. "I think I know a few guys..."

____

A new unit, while advantageous for the Strategic Scientific Reserve, was not to be just up and formed overnight.

The men proposed had to be vetted by all Allied Forces, to ensure there were no double, or even triple, agents.

"Wouldn't put it past Hitler or HYDRA," Phillips had stated, frowning, as he sent for files to be checked, again; this time by an entirely different department.

Then, there was the medical checks. The group had all been held captive after the battle at Azzano for about a month, and no one from the SSR would dare risk sending anyone not deemed physically or mentally fit out again for the missions they had planned for this new team.

And, with new soldiers came new items for all - uniforms, weapons, ranks, clearances.

"The uniform looks good on you," Bucky said, about two months later in early 1944, as they were getting dressed. They were at an army field base in Southern Germany for their latest mission.

Steve smiled and looked down. It was a far cry from his original, "Man With a Plan" uniform. This one was rugged, made for the field, while keeping his patriotic look.

"It's the same one I've been wearing since we started all this," Steve observed, which was true.

Bucky shrugged as he buttoned up his own coat. "I know, but still. Maybe I haven't appreciated you in it til now. Our latest victory is getting to my head," he said, with a crooked grin, before he left.

Steve remained where he was, confused about their interaction. "So, those glances Bucky steals at you, sometimes," his brain began, "maybe they're...purposeful? Genuine?"

He shook his head to try to clear it, failed, and grabbed his gloves and helmet as he hurried to catch up with Bucky.

Falling in stride with him, he looked at his friend. 

"Yours looks good too," Steve said, and Bucky looked at him, eyes twinkling dangerously.

"Don't I know it!" his friend cackled, and Steve laughed. "Gotta look good if I'm with you, huh?"

"With me in what way?" Steve's near-fried brain asked, but fortunately the question didn't make it to his mouth, which he was sure would have betrayed him.

Which was especially fortunate as Bucky walked ahead of Steve, and his thoughts left his head as he watched Bucky walk in his brown field pants, hands hitched on the wide webbing belt.

"Thank you, whoever designed that uniform," Steve sighed, glancing up at the sky for a moment.

_______

Night fell over the woods as the Howling Commandos huddled around their fire.

"I'll be glad when this war is over," Gabe sighed, rubbing his hands together. No offense, fellas, but seeing your ugly mugs day in, day out for...how many months now?"

"Too many?" James offered. "Let's see, we started as this particular unit after the new year --"

"Good ol' 1944," Dum Dum sighed. "What a year it's been..."

"And now it's almost October, I think," James continued.

"Screw the war, I'll just be happy when winter is over," Jim commented, pulling his jacket tighter.

"It hasn't even begun," Bucky laughed.

"Then why is it so already so cold here?" Jim asked, sighing.

"Well, I say, there's nothing like some brisk night air," Dum Dum said. "Whiskey to help with the chill, anyone?"

"I'll drink to that," Bucky said, as it was passed around.

"Merci," Jacques added.

"All clear," Steve said, as he rejoined their group, having completed a quick pass around their temporary camp site. "I think I'm going to call it a night."

"Even though we have tomorrow off, relatively speaking?" Gabe asked, surprised. "Just waiting to connect with our new intel," he reminded the team.

"He's gotta get his beauty rest, look at that face," Bucky said, making the others laugh. "But I think it's a good idea, count me in."

"Well, here's to another successful mission, cap," Dum Dum said as they passed him on their way to their tent, raising his canteen cup at them.

"Yeah, cap," Bucky smirked, stressing the last word as they entered their cramped, two person tent. They shed most of their clothes and hurried to get into their sleeping bags wearing only their long-johns. "All these months and I never did ask, that an official rank and promotion?"

"I don't know," Steve laughed. "I did try to pull rank when I came to rescue you last year, so, I mean, maybe? It kind of came with the gig, and the unique uniform."

"Not to mention the singing and dancing," Bucky reminded him.

"You saw it?" Steve groaned, thinking back to it. It felt like a lifetime ago he was touring with the girls, encouraging audiences around the country to buy war bonds. 

"I also took pictures with cute babies, you probably just didn't see those."

"I did, I just never would have imagined it was you. But, knowing all that, I guess that would mean you outrank me now. Shit, it's been how many months since we started these missions? You've been outranking me for a while now. I'll need to remember to salute you when we're back on base..."

"Aw, come on," Steve said, awkwardly. "It's not like that, you know that."

"Do I?" Bucky teased. "I can't risk being rude to superior officers, sir," he purred. "I want to be a good soldier for you."

Steve stifled a sudden coughing fit, and could feel a blush heating his cheeks.

"Speaking of all this, what do I need to do to get the Captain America to autograph one of his comics for me? His biggest fan?"

"Bucky," Steve groaned. "Stop razzing me so much!"

"Hey, I liked those comics! And you're the big time celebrity, you should be used to people cooing over you!" Bucky said, laughing.

"It wasn't what it was cracked up to be," Steve sighed. "I mean, it was all fun and games when it was shows in the states, but when I came overseas, I made a fool of myself. I felt like little Stevie Rogers all over again."

"Yeah, well now you're a wartime hero," Bucky reminded him. "Captain America."

Steve smiled into his sleeping bag. Hearing his "new" name roll off Bucky's tongue was a sinful pleasure, and made him feel as giddy as if the Dodgers had played a perfect game. No, a perfect season!

"I don't know that we haven't just dropped off the radar with everything we're trying to do here. People won't remember me like that. Doesn't matter, really. I never wanted to be a big hero like that, I just wanted to do my part."

He heard Bucky sniffle, a sure sign he was deep in thought.

Steve sighed as he kicked himself, knowing all these little things about Bucky was a cursed blessing at times...

"Well, a lot of our missions probably don't get past the report, but I've seen some of the SSR reporters nosying around here and there, cameras recording us even. More you than anyone..."

They laid there in silence for a moment.

"I bet all the girls'll be all over you when they see you," Bucky said, quietly.

It was his imagination that Bucky sounded almost sad, Steve told himself. Right?

"I'm no good with all that, still," Steve said in a quiet voice. "It's not important to me."

"Values and priorities change in war, Steve." Bucky sighed. "You start to see what is important. And I feel you, them dames just don't matter these days. They haven't, not for a while."

"Are you sure it's not because Peggy shot you down in London?" Steve couldn't help but ask. They had begun going by a first-name basis outside of formal meetings, once he began to be working directly under her command.

He squeezed his eyes shut in the dark, why was he tormenting himself?

"Nah, it wasn't like that. She's not my type," Bucky said, and Steve quietly exhaled. "Besides, word is she's with Stark."

Steve laughed quietly, relieved, and they began to gossip, for a moment being back in their Brooklyn neighborhood just hanging out, rather than behind enemy lines in the cold grip of war.

_________

The lights dimmed as the staff of the Strategic Scientific Reserve got comfortable in their seats in the conference room.

"Captain America and his team have taken out a multitude of HYDRA bases," Peggy began, as the projector flickered to life and a map showed on the projection screen. "The shields represent their next set of targets, and we're hoping that these give us the last bit of intelligence we're looking for, including one of their strongest and most preferred transportation tactics - their train system and schedule."

She grew silent as the projector briefly flickered out, replaced with a motion picture of the Howling Commandos walking around to show Peggy and the others the bases, weapons retrieved, and other general information.

Steve was shown on screen briefing his men, and she couldn't help but smile when she saw him. He had grown into a fine leader, and she knew he was respected by the others.

The team was reviewing a map, and the camera caught sight of Steve's compass in his gloved hand. 

It had been common practice ever since that style of compass was created for people to put pictures of their near and dear in it, and she smiled as she saw a ticket stub from a Dodgers game.

"Boo Dodgers!" someone shouted out, making the others laugh.

She shook her head, still smiling, as she reflected on that game, or rather, its date.

Steve had told her about it, once, when she saw the full ticket stub tucked into his wallet the day he came to get his upgraded gear. They had gone out to lunch, trying to pretend they had some normalcy while the world was at war, even if only for a moment.

"That was a bittersweet day," he had said. "The Dodgers won, so clearly it was a good day! But it turned out to be the last game I went to, and the last game I went to with Bucky. We didn't know when he'd get his orders, and he only ever found out the day before. So anyway, we went, had a ball, a real solid day. The weather was perfect, the boys were playing great, and Bucky and I had the section practically to ourselves. They were the cheap seats, and it was a Tuesday afternoon, we had both skipped out of work to go."

"What was bittersweet about it?" she asked. "Sounds like a perfect day."

"It was," Steve had sighed. "A great day, with my best friend. But if I had known it would be our last game together, hell, that he was leaving like a week later..."

"Sounds like someone has regret," she had teased him. "It's never a good thing. 'In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take.'"

"Yeah," Steve said, a faraway look in his eyes. "When I see him again, I'll tell him. I'll tell him everything..."

Peggy smiled again, as the screen moved to another HYDRA base. She thought to herself that she should write Steve a telegraph and see what progress he was making with his other, more personal mission...

______

The Howling Commandos had added a few more to their numbers as time went on, and time passed in a blur of successful missions taking out numerous HYDRA strongholds.

All too soon, it was winter and they were walking through the snow covered woods.

"1945 can't get here soon enough," Dum Dum muttered, his breath puffing out in a small cloud as he spoke.

"Yeah, well we still gotta make it to the new year," Gabe reminded him.

Another teammate held up a field signal warning them to be silent, as the woods were quiet enough as is and a sound could travel for who knew how far.

They were heading towards an underground bunker, hoping to get something about the bigger HYDRA intelligence - goals, missions, transportation, anything they could.

They crept silently through the woods, listening, searching, for any signs of the enemy.

Steve was leading the group, Bucky in the first line right behind him. Steve paused and looked around, silently giving the signal for them to proceed.

Suddenly, he paused again, and turned to look behind him, just over Bucky's shoulder, at a large, snow covered tree, no different or less captivating than any of its neighbors. Without warning or hesitation, Steve flung his shield towards it, knocking a HYDRA soldier down, into the middle of their ranks.

Bucky turned back to Steve, a look of surprise on his face, and Steve grinned and shrugged as he put his shield back on.

Bucky smirked and shook his head, and they continued on, nearing their goal in the afternoon.

They had reviewed the plan the night before, deciding they would set up a perimeter once night had fallen, ideally luring the bunker into a false sense of security.

The team moved into position, spreading into small cells and covering themselves with light colored blankets to stay warm and blend in, should a HYDRA patrol decide to come out this far from the base.

Steve and Bucky huddled under a blanket together, on their stomachs, peering out from some tree branches they had grabbed and placed over themselves.

"At least we'll be warm," Bucky sighed. "Remind me to never complain about New York winters again."

Steve softly chuckled. "With pleasure. I'm just grateful I'm not skin and bones anymore, or I'd have frozen to death by now."

Bucky grinned at him, eyes crinkling at the corners, and Steve became acutely aware of just how close they were to each other, side by side in the small space.

They sat in comfortable silence, and after some time, Steve noticed Bucky was softly humming a song.

It was familiar, comforting, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

No matter, it was nice either way, and there, in the middle of the woods, it felt like they were the last two people on earth.

Just us, Steve thought. Here, together.

The peace of it all began to lure him to sleep, and he shuffled in place and shook his head to try to remain awake and alert.

Bucky turned to look at him. "Hey, grab some sleep, okay? We've got a long night ahead of us, and it won't do for you to be tired."

Steve shook his head. "We need to --" he began, before he was cut off by Bucky.

"I've got it covered, I'll stay up and be on guard duty," Bucky said. "I'll wake you up if anything happens, promise."

Steve wanted to argue, that it was his place as team lead, as Captain America (though he cringed to phrase it that way), to be on guard first, or to not go to sleep at all, but Bucky's present was so nice, so warm, so comforting, he nodded and covered his head with another blanket, sleep soon finding him.

____

Their watch passed uneventfully, and soon it had been dark for some time, and silent for even longer.

They used their flashlights to signal around to all teams that they were proceeding as planned, and packed up their makeshift shelters, packing them into their rucksacks and leaving them covered at the base of a tree.

Steve and Bucky reconvened with the original Howling Commandos as one team, knowing there were three other sizeable teams surrounding the bunker.

"As we expected, a bunch of soldiers left for the night," Jim quietly reported. "Some night on the town or something."

The others nodded. They weren't here to kill as many enemies as possible, more to collect intelligence and destroy the building overall, and whatever was in it. If anything, the less soldiers killed, perhaps the better, as they needed to kill the main part of HYDRA, so to speak, not the minions, who would just continue to multiply otherwise.

Dum Dum let out a sharp whistle akin to a bird call, and a moment later one was returned, the final signal.

Their team crept forward, quietly, making out the dimly lit guard shack. HYDRA was too smart to have a proper guard tower in this area, not that they could have seen too far with the dense forest.

Gabe and Jacques advanced towards it, soon making quick work of the two guards. They dragged their bodies away from the shack, hands tied behind their backs, unconscious for now.

The others advanced, opening the inconspicuous door to the bunker, and exchanged a final nod before entering.

Fortunately, as planned, the bunker was caught off guard, not that it meant they were any less armed or guarded.

Steve took the lead, shielding himself from bullets with his trusty shield, while Bucky took up a more defensive position, using his sniper skill to take out soldiers who popped out from the tight hallways. Steve flung his shield around a corner, telltale signs ringing out of it ricocheting into and off of bodies along the way before coming back to him sharply. Bucky slid on the floor to advance past and dodge the red, white, and blue blur before it took his own head off.

He peered around the corner and fired into a soldier who raised their own gun weakly at him.

"All clear!" Bucky called out, and the Howling Commandos and Steve hurried past.

They repeated this a few more times, before splitting up.

Steve and Bucky were in one office with the officer on command, rummaging around the office while trying to get information from him.

Jim had taken up position at the bunker entry, to relate any calls from the other teams, who were now on watch, having taken out any soldiers escaping through the emergency hatch.

The others on their team were moving swiftly along the bunker, placing explosives periodically, wiring them together.

Bucky ran a hand through his hair, exasperated by the officer's silence, even with a few well-placed punches from him.

"There's gotta be something here," Bucky said. 

"We've pulled out all the drawers, gone through everything," Steve reminded him. "Sure, we grabbed a few maps and reports, but no major files."

"I tell you nothing," the officer spat at them, letting off a string of what they could only assume were German curse words.

"Shut up," Bucky sneered.

Just then, one of the men from a perimeter team came in, dragging a young soldier by the scruff of his neck.

"Office worker, says he'll tell us where the safe is," their teammate reported.

"Live, I live," the soldier, a boy, really, said, over and over.

"Nein!" the officer shouted, lunging for the boy angrily.

Bucky grabbed the man and pulled him back into the chair, socking him in the jaw, before holding him in place in the chair.

They watched as the young soldier reached under the desk with one hand, and a portrait of Hitler slid to the left, revealing a hidden compartment.

"Of course it would be there," Steve sighed, before turning to the boy. "Thanks, kid. If we let you go, you quit the army right here and run straight home, you hear me?"

The boy nodded, wide eyed, and Steve nodded at their teammate to take him out.

"Stupid American," the officer sneered, as he watched Steve grab the hidden papers and tuck them into a map pouch.

"This base is going to be blown sky-high in a few minutes, who cares if the kid goes home or not," Bucky informed him. "You, on the other hand, get to burn in hell."

"Hail Hydra!" the officer shouted, before Bucky knocked him out.

"Hail my fist," he said, letting the man fall off the chair to the floor. "We good?" he asked Steve, who nodded.

"Good. Let's go!"

They ran back out, careful of the explosive wire along the way, and met up with the rest of their team at the entry, glad to be breathing fresh air again.

"Let's go!" Steve said, again, and they ran into the woods, striking a flare as they went and waving it before setting it down on the ground to sputter sparks, a signal to the other teams that the mission had been accomplished and they'd best get their butts out of the strike range.

"Go, go, go!" Dum Dum urged them, as they split up again, for each group to grab their rucksacks and meet back together a few minutes later.

"Ten," Dum Dum continued to count down. 

The group waited with bated breath as he counted.

"Only to bury it, not to draw attention, right?" someone asked.

"Three, two, one!" Dum Dum answered, or perhaps, didn't answer.

Suddenly, their was a loud rumble, the ground shook under their feet, and some dirt and bits of who knew what rained down gently.

It was over within a few seconds, and they looked at each other in surprise, dusting themselves off.

The last of their group ran up to rejoin them, confirming it had been successful, and they took off, heading in a different direction from that which they had come, and avoiding the town the bunker's workers had headed to for that night's festivities.

"Let's get this information back to base," Steve urged them, pleased with the success of their mission.

_____

The group had decided that the start of 1945 meant that a short period of R&R was long over due, and that now was as perfect a time as any as Peggy, Colonel Phillips, and the others at the SSR continued to analyze the intelligence they had retrieved from the bunker.

Steve had initially argued against taking time off, not wanting to risk letting anyone slip by them, but the others had pointed out that even he, surely, needed some rest here and there. If not physically, then at least mentally.

It had made him pause and consider it. His life had been a bit of a whirlwind since the procedure, as it had been off to the shows, then Europe, then the first rescue mission, and then it all really took off.

So, he had agreed, and now found Bucky dragging him to an out of the way inn that Jacques had chosen. The other original Howling Commandos had gone ahead of them, eager to start to drink and relax. Bucky and Steve had some loose ends at the army camp they were at to tie up about their report of the bunker mission, and so were last of their group to check in.

The owners were friendly to Americans, though spoke little English. Bucky knew enough of a mix of European languages that it worked until Jacques joined them, and the owners smiled even wider at the confirmation that they were part of Jacques' group.

Steve found himself out of his element for the first time in a long time, but couldn't help but smile. There was Bucky, helping him out of a crazy situation, again.

"Some other soldiers have claimed rooms here," Jacques told them as the owners passed him a room key. "So, we're having to share rooms within our team. I hope you two don't mind sharing a room?"

"Not at all," Steve replied. "We're just glad to have a softer bed to sleep on," he said, accepting the room key.

They also accepted a bag of food from Jacques with some items the team had bought on their way in, and headed upstairs to their room.

It was cozy, comfortable, but more importantly, warm, dry, and safe. 

"Where are we, again?" Steve asked, and Bucky shrugged as he set his rucksack down.

"Jacques said that this was on its way to being a destination spot for travelers, and opened not long before the war started, which is why it's on the posher side compared to everything else out this way. The start of a new tourist destination," Bucky recalled. "I think they were expecting skiing or something to be going on around here."

"Well, I won't complain. It's a nicer room than I could have asked for," Steve said, looking around. There was a large bed, a small table with two chairs, and a door likely leading to a bathroom, which he watched Bucky poke his head into. "I hope you don't mind sharing the bed, looks pretty big though."

Internally, he sighed. Jacques could have warned them there was one bed, but maybe the other man hadn't known?

"A bed is a bed, I'll take it. And we've got a bathtub," Bucky said, returning to the room as he opened his jacket. "Looks like a big enough size we could both sit in it."

"B-both?" Steve asked, surprised.

"Well, a place like this, with a bunch of people? I don't think we can count on hot water for more than one bath."

Steve thought about it and had to agree, Bucky had a point. And, hadn't they swam together in the past? It was nothing new...right?

___

They had opted for "field baths" first, separately washing up so they wouldn't dirty the bath water. They had grabbed showers at the base before leaving, but it had still been a fair hike to get here, so they figured better safe than sorry.

Bucky had washed up second, as the bath filled, and so was sat in it first.

Steve hoped the blush he felt on his face hadn't spread elsewhere as he removed the towel from his waist just before stepping in himself, feeling the weight of Bucky's gaze on him.

As they settled into the hot water in the bath, sitting at either end of the tub, they sighed contentedly.

"This feels amazing," Steve groaned.

Bucky nodded, eyes half closed, a lazy smile on his face as he leaned his head back on a towel he had folded against the wall.

Steve tried to relax, but was finding it hard. Here he was, in a romantic hotel, in a bath of all places, with his best friend, the guy he had feelings for.

He was so caught up in his head he didn't realize Bucky was watching him for a few minutes.

"What?" Steve asked, shyly.

"Nothing," Bucky said, giving him his crooked grin. "Just looking."

"At?"

"You," Bucky said, bluntly. 

Steve bit his lip. Leave it to Bucky to be so up front and straightforward!

"Me?"

"I'm still just trying to get over this new you," Bucky said. "I know I've seen you for months, but I guess I'm just used to...a different you."

Steve looked away for a moment before he spoke. The past year had been full of stolen glances, it felt like. Idle, maybe-flirting, not that Steve had much experience with that sort of thing.

Still, the looks some of the women gave him when he was on tour as "The Man With A Plan"...he knew he gave those looks to Bucky, and he was pretty certain he received some as well.

And, sure, as Bucky had said, they had been working together daily for the last year, but never saw each other like this. If they had ever changed in front of the other, which they had to have done, their missions never gave them much chance to do so in a leisurely way. Even the occasional bit of time off was never as relaxing as this.

"Do you not like this me?" Steve asked. Not that I can change it, he thought to himself.

Years of being "skinny" Steve flickered through his mind. No one had expressed interest in him like that. Skinny, short, almost pale...

"I like it," Bucky said. "This you, that you, it's all you, Steve. You're still my pain in the ass best friend, no matter what you look like."

Steve laughed and felt a weight lift off his chest. He sunk down into the water a little deeper, his knees popping out of the tub slightly.

Without warning, Bucky grabbed his feet and pulled so that his legs were extended, laying on Bucky's thighs, and Steve felt Bucky settle his own feet on either side of him.

"Much better," Steve admitted. "I haven't taken a bath at this size, I didn't know I'd take up so much of it."

Bucky just smirked and and leaned his head back on the towel, closing his eyes fully.

Steve studied him for a moment before leaning his own head back and staring at the ceiling.

The warm water, the actual peace and quiet, began to lure him into a restful state of mind.

Bucky broke the relative silence by humming softly, and Steve's mind whirred as he tried to place it.

That song...it was the same one Bucky hummed when they were waiting to get into the bunker, Steve recalled. But what was it?

He didn't want it to end, however, so he stopped himself from asking. For now, at least.

"You miss it, back home?" Bucky suddenly asked him, and Steve opened his eyes, not realizing he had closed them.

He paused as he thought about it, still looking at the ceiling. "I...I don't know? I didn't have much going for me, kind of. I was so focused on getting into the army, nothing else really mattered for a while. Especially once it was only a matter of time until you got your orders," Steve said. "And, then you did, so quickly."

"Yeah," Bucky agreed. "It was kind of a lot, from when I enlisted til I got my orders to go to England. Not even six months."

"Do you miss it?" Steve asked.

"Nah. It feels like so long ago, especially with basic training in that mix. This past year, running around with you getting into fights, has felt more like home than anything," Bucky teased him.

Steve looked over, to find Bucky smirking at him.

"Jerk," Steve retorted.

"You love it," Bucky mocked.

"I do," Steve admitted. In more ways than you know, he thought. "We'll go back, right? When all this is done?"

"Of course," Bucky said, as if there was never any doubt. "Just like it always was."

They sat in the bath a while longer, until the water began to turn cold. Bucky got out first, not exactly hurrying, it seemed, and Steve side-eyed him to steal a glance or two.

Soon, they were both dressed in plain light blue pajamas provided by the inn; clearly used to soldiers staying here, the owners had identified this need for their guests.

They dug into their food, reminiscing about New York and their missions thus far. Steve told Bucky about some of the strange things he encountered during his war bonds tour, and Bucky regaled him with crazy stories about his time in Europe and watching soldiers from around the US acclimate to Europe.

As the sun set early, as it was winter, Bucky threw on his coat and headed downstairs, returning with their field thermoses filled with hot beverages. 

They turned off the lights in their room and opened the curtains as wide as they would go, moving their chairs and sitting side by side to gaze out the window, watching light snow swept this was and that in the wind.

Sitting in silence, they tried to reconcile this peaceful scene with the missions they had been on, the missions they still had ahead of them.

Eventually, Steve broke the silence.

Cupping his thermos for comfort, he spoke without looking away from the window. 

"You think we'll actually get out of this?"

Bucky sniffled once. "The war?"

"Yeah."

Bucky was silent for a moment. "I hope so," he said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "We've both been through too much not to."

Steve processed this in brief silence. "And then what?"

"Then it'll be you and me," Bucky said, softly.

Steve turned to his right to look at him, barely visible in the light filtering in from the outside. 

"You and me?" Steve asked, unsure if he really wanted the answer. Sure, he might be Captain America, in his new big body, but his insecurities hadn't gone anywhere.

Bucky returned the gaze. "Of course." He shrugged. "If you want."

Steve smiled softly. "Yeah I want that. Why wouldn't I?" 

Of course, the unspoken was there, hanging heavy, and Steve's pulse quickened. What were they really talking about?

Bucky rolled his eyes. "You never know. Maybe you've outgrown me."

"Never," Steve said, without hesitation.

"Well then," Bucky said, as if that was all there was. He looked back out the window, and Steve followed suit, sipping his drink.

A few minutes later, Bucky began to hum that same damn tune again.

"What's that song?" Steve finally asked.

"What song?"

"The one you keep humming, duh."

"Ah," Bucky said, and Steve could hear him shifting in his chair. "It's from 'Springtime in the Rockies.' I think we saw it back home, just before Christmas '42. It was all over the radio and at dances for months before I, we, got shipped out."

"Oh yeah, I think I remember. How's it go again?" Steve asked.

Bucky softly cleared his throat. "In a dream the strangest and the oddest things appear, and what insane and silly things we do," he began to sing, softly. "Here is what I see before me, vividly and clear. As I recall it, you were in it, too. I had the craziest dream last night, yes, I did. I never dreamt it could be, yet there you were, in love with me."

Steve's mind was racing, he was feeling overwhelmed and lost. Did he dare read into it? The song Bucky had been humming near him, at him, for how long?

"I found your lips close to mine, so I kissed you. And you didn't mind it at all. When I'm awake, such a break never happens," his friend sang.

Steve summoned up all his courage, stomach twisted in knots, and turned to look at Bucky, finding his friend already looking directly at him.

"How long can a guy go on dreaming?" Bucky continued. "If there's a chance that you care, then please, say you do, baby. Say it and make my craziest dream come true."

They looked at each other in silence.

"That was nice," Steve said, softly.

"Just nice?" Bucky teased. He continued without waiting for a response. "And if I meant it?"

"Do you?"

"Do you?" Bucky countered.

Steve nodded, not trusting himself with words.

"Well then," Bucky said, leaning over and cupping Steve's left cheek with a hand. They looked into each other's eyes, and Steve gave a barely-there nod.

The crooked smile Bucky gave him, his most endearing one, melted Steve; that was the last thought he had before they closed the distance and his eyes closed.

Their kiss deepened over the next few minutes, before they pulled apart, slightly, searching each other's face.

"Holy cow," Bucky said.

"Yeah," Steve agreed, breathlessly. Maybe sharing a bed wasn't going to be such a bad thing, he couldn't help but think, before he pulled Bucky in for another kiss.

_________

A few weeks later, winter was still going strong and snow continued to fall across the land.

Peggy and Phillips had relayed information to Steve and the Howling Commandos about plans HYDRA had, including their focus of utilizing trains to transport precious items. In this case, HYDRA was using one specific train to transport new weapons, top soldiers, and one Dr Arnim Zola.

The mission - don't let Zola escape. Capture the not-so-good doctor, and try to stop the train from reaching any of its destinations. Bonus if they can keep it intact and help to recover anything on board.

Another unit had helped to acquire information to determine which route the train would be using, and when, and it was decided that ziplining off a mountainside onto the moving train was the best (read - only) option.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Bucky said as the team waited, high up in the snowy mountains.

The zipline was up, the radio was being monitored, and he, Steve, and Gabe had double checked their equipment, as they would be the ones dropping down.

"Don't we all," Dum Dum said. "You'll be fine."

Bucky shook his head. "Something doesn't feel right. Maybe it's too on the nose that we got this information, that no one's stopping us up here..."

"The train tracks are miles long, they're not going to monitor it all," Jacques commented. "They couldn't, even if they wanted to."

"Plus, it's too frickin' cold for them to bother," Dum Dum added.

Bucky sighed and stepped up near the front, next to Steve.

The cold winter wind was blowing at a fair pace, ruffling their hair. Bucky looked at Steve, who had taken off his Captain America headgear.

"How in the world did we end up here?" he softly asked Steve.

"Just two kids, trying to save the world," Steve said, smiling ruefully.

They kept eye contact for a long moment before returning their gazes to the winding train track.

"Remember when I made you ride The Cyclone at Coney Island?" Bucky asked, smiling faintly at the memory.

"Yeah, and I threw up?" Steve asked, scrunching his face at the memory.

"This isn't payback, is it?"

Steve laughed as he looked above and behind them, checking the zipline again. "Now why would I do that?"

Bucky couldn't help but laugh, and shook his head.

"Throwing up on that ride sure beats what we're about to do," he said.

Steve looked at him and smiled. "Ziplining onto a train instead of a winding wooden roller coaster? Seems calmer to me."

"Only because you don't have two Nathan's hot dogs in your stomach this time," Bucky said. "And a cute girl you're trying to impress."

"I'm only trying to impress one person," Steve softly said, so no one else could hear. "Is it working?"

Bucky grinned at him. "What do you think?"

Before they could answer, Gabe called out from where he was manning the radio with Jim.

"Dr Zola's on the train," Gabe confirmed, and the group relaxed, if only for a second.

Intelligence was never foolproof, and there had been a chance that Zola was on a different train, not that HYDRA was using many of them at this time.

"HYDRA dispatcher gave them permission to open up the throttle," Gabe informed them, as Steve and Bucky turned to look at him, walking closer to hear him better over the wind. "Wherever he's going, they must need him bad."

Steve and Bucky exchanged a look as Steve put his helmet on and got ready.

James lifted his binoculars to keep watch just as the train turned a curve and came into view.

"Let's get going, because they're moving like the devil," he called out.

Steve set up on the zipline first, taking off at Jacques' signal, just ahead of the train appearing under their vantage point.

Bucky followed, mere seconds behind him, and Gabe just after that.

They couldn't have asked for a more perfect landing, each crisply jumping onto the roof of the train.

The three started to creep forward, slightly crouching as they went, willing their feet to stay planted.

"Germans and their engineering," Steve couldn't help but think, grateful that the train had fairly flat surfaces along its top.

Steve climbed down the ladder into one of the lead train cars, Bucky crouching at the top, ready to follow. Gabe took up a kneeling position just behind them, readying his rifle.

Steve pulled back the train car door, squinting into the dimmed light of the inside as his eyes adjusted, Bucky right behind him, slamming the door shut.

They pulled their guns out, Steve carrying a handgun in one hand, his shield on the other, and Bucky armed with his preferred weapon, a rifle. Separating, they stealthily walked on either side of tall racks of weapons cases as they approached the other end of the car, and a doorway.

There, they paused and looked at each other, unsure of what lay ahead.

"Hey," Bucky said, lowering his rifle and freeing up his left hand. He gripped one of the brown straps on Steve's chest and pulled him close.

"What --" Steve began, surprised, but Bucky pulled again, leaning up, bringing Steve into a powerful kiss full of longing, life, and passion.

They pulled away a moment later, their faces remaining inches apart.

"What was that for?" Steve asked, still surprised.

"The hero always gets a kiss at times like this," Bucky said, smirking.

"Ah, Bucky, that's just in the movies," Steve said, a blush visible underneath his mask.

"Yeah, well, just in case, I didn't want regrets. Now let's do this."

Steve nodded, not trusting himself to speak, and turned towards the doorway, raising his gun again.

He looked back at Bucky, ready to go, an unspoken question in his eyes. His mouth was slightly gaped open, a sign Bucky knew for as long as he had known Steve that his friend was nervous, but too stubborn to admit it to anyone, much less himself.

Bucky nodded, hoping to reassure him. "I've got your back."

"Always?"

"Always."

It seemed to do the trick, as Steve advanced into the next car, and in the split second that Bucky, a few feet behind him, had turned to check over his shoulder, the doors between cars slammed shut.

Steve immediately turned around and looked through the glass at the other car, a look of sheer panic on his face.

Bucky returned it, briefly, before suddenly turning around and bracing his back at the door as he started to fire.

Steve didn't even have time to curse their situation before a noise caught his attention, and he turned to find himself face to face with either a robot or a huge HYDRA soldier wearing a strange double-barreled futuristic gun that was pointed right at him.

He fired off a few shots before he ducked behind some weapons cases.

"Stop him!" someone shouted in a crisp accent over the train's speaker system. "Fire again!"

The train rocked, jostling a few crates, and Steve fired off some more shots, hoping that Bucky was faring better than he was. He couldn't hear anything from the other car due to his own fight as well as the thick metal doors between them.

It was clear that his gun was no match for the monstrous abomination in front of him, as blue blasts of some kind hit the wall behind him, tearing into the metal.

Steve hid behind his shield as another blast followed, hoping that his shield was more durable than the train's walls...

It did the trick a moment later as he slammed it into the soldier's facial area, subduing them.

His thoughts were focused on saving Bucky, then finding Zola, who he assumed was in the engine car, figuring him to either be the voice on the loudspeaker, or instructing said voice. Hopefully by now Gabe knew they were under fire, though he probably didn't know they had been separated.

Steve knelt over the soldier and glanced at the doorway he had come through, taking the flashes of guns discharging as a bittersweet sign that Bucky was alive and putting up a good fight, though clearly still being attacked.

Steve hoped for the best as he grabbed one of the weapons that had tried to take him out and shot a blue blast at the train door, since it was likely there was an automated way of opening it that he wanted, needed, to override.

It at least opened the door in Steve's car, and he paused at the remaining door, catching sight of Bucky to his left, crouching behind crates and shooting a handgun at HYDRA soldiers farther down the car.

Hitting the only button there, Steve caught Bucky's attention as he turned towards the new sound, and threw him a gun before running into the room, pushing the middle rack of weapon crates into a soldier.

Bucky approached, panting, and they looked down at the scene in front of them.

"I had him on the ropes," Bucky said.

"I know you did," Steve replied, without thinking, mimicking their usual banter post-fight. Only usually it was Bucky saving Steve, and Steve saying he was "this close" to winning against whichever bully he was fighting.

Before either could say anything more, a sound startled them and they jumped as they turned, finding Steve's latest robotic nemesis at the doorway, guns lit up and clearly ready for them.

Steve did the only thing he could think of - he pulled Bucky behind him with one arm and held up his trusty shield with the other, trying to protect them.

It worked, kind of, as the blast ricocheted off the shield and was diverted into the side of the train to their right, the side they had entered on; now, it was also the side over a ravine.

Cold winter air billowed in as the smell of burnt metal burned their nostrils.

"Fire again!" the sharp voice ordered over the speaker. "Kill him, now!" 

Neither Bucky nor Steve really paid it any attention; they had more important matters to deal with. Like, staying alive, for one.

The blast had still had enough force to fling Steve and Bucky backwards and apart. Steve found himself on the other side of the train from the now gaping hole. Bucky was still in the middle of the train, and quickly grabbed Steve's shield, holding it in his left hand as Steve himself did, firing at the metal atrocity in rapid succession.

It felt like it was happening in slow motion, Steve's brain registered.

There was Bucky, looking like some otherworldly being, holding the shield, a symbol of strength, of freedom, of doing what's right. Holding his shield, Steve's shield. Something so familiar to Steve, yet in Bucky's hands, it felt like he was seeing it for the first time. The wind swept Bucky's normally pristine hair, and he firmly braced his feet as he fired his gun, body turned slightly towards Steve.

Then, Steve's world came crashing down and his heart stopped.

The enemy's guns, those dratted guns, blasted off one more time, hitting the shield, and this time sending Bucky off to his left.

Straight out of the hole in the train.

The air was knocked out of Steve, and tears formed in his eyes, not that he was aware of either.

All he knew was that he had to get Bucky, he had to rescue Bucky!

He jumped to his feet and in one swift motion, grabbed his shield and flung it with all his force into the HYDRA soldier, knocking it back and down.

Steve ripped off his helmet as he moved to the hole.

"Bucky!" he shouted, barely hearing himself over the roaring winds.

The train continued to speed, speed, speed to its destination, not caring of the new precious cargo it was carrying or the destruction that was occurring inside itself.

Steve's heart clenched a little more, as if that was possible, when he saw Bucky holding onto part of the train, his arms above his head, fully outstretched, his legs swinging as the train jostled them.

Without hesitating, Steve kept a grip on the most inner part of the door he could reach, at the edge of the blast area, and began to work his way outside.

"Hang on!" Steve called to him, blind fear driving him onwards.

Bucky began to shimmy his hands towards Steve, his legs flailing as he did so, almost swinging himself closer, inch by inch.

Bucky's right arm fell away as part of the train gave way, before he quickly found a new handhold. Steve stepped down and closer, toeing his way along, grateful for his thick gloves and the support they provided.

Steve extended his left arm, fingers outstretched. "Grab my hand!" he pleaded with Bucky.

Bucky reached out his right arm, groaning with the force of trying to hold on with his left, as he was near thrown about like a rag doll.

Suddenly, the train hit a bump, and the grip Bucky had gave way, just as Steve grabbed his right arm.

He pulled Bucky up and into him, and they made quick work of tumbling back into the train, lying on the floor on their backs, trying to catch their breaths and calm their racing hearts.

"I thought I was going to lose you," Steve said, turning his head to the left to see Bucky, who turned to face him.

"You and me both."

"Guess I've got your back too," Steve said, exhaling loudly.

"Always," Bucky said, still trying to catch his breath from his near-death experience as he slowly stood, swaying as the train moved.

He held out a hand to Steve, who accepted it and let himself be pulled up.

They heard Gabe moving above their heads, and turned to look at each other.

"Let's finish what we started," Bucky suggested.

"You got it," Steve said, grabbing his helmet and putting it on.

Bucky reached down and grabbed his shield, passing it to Steve.

"You know, it was pretty hot when you held it," Steve couldn't help but admit.

"I almost just died, and that's all you can say?" Bucky asked, surprised.

Steve shrugged. "I don't want to think about that," he said, shaking his head.

Bucky shook his head. "Fair enough, we got bigger things to do right now," he said, as they readied their weapons and began to head up the train, staying inside it and grateful to put as much distance between themselves and the hole in its side as possible.

____________

Bucky looked into the mirror as he tied his tie and watched Steve wrap a gift at the suite's living room coffee table.

Peggy and Stark had gotten married in some small, undeniably quaint European village in the middle of nowhere after their jeep busted a tire during the war. Now, the war was behind them, and they were celebrating their marriage; some strings had been pulled to essentially take over the New York City hotel they were celebrating at, insisting that all guests stay there, no matter where they were travelling from.

And so, the two kids from Brooklyn had ended up in a posh suite in a hotel they never gave a second thought to, well out of their place in life.

"What are you wrapping?" Bucky asked, turning to look closer.

"A fondue set," Steve said, folding the paper just so.

Bucky raised an eyebrow. "Fondue?"

Steve smiled. "It's a long story, but I think they'll like it."

"Didn't we already give them a gift?" Bucky asked.

"Yeah, this is just to not show up empty handed," Steve said, finishing. "Ready to head downstairs?"

The happy couple had decided to celebrate on both sides of the Atlantic, and Steve and Bucky had managed to be invited to both.

The London affair had been fun, initially a bit subdued, but livened up as the night went on. The New York one, however, started off with a bang and kept going from there, in different ballrooms at the hotel.

They ran into Peggy about an hour into it, and she smiled widely as she greeted them.

"Another great party," Bucky observed.

"I know!" she laughed. "I'm happy you both could make it. If you're both free," she said, moving in between them and linking arms with both of them, guiding them to an area a small ways away they could talk in.

Standing near a tall window overlooking the city, they looked at her.

"Listen," she began. "We're all so grateful for your help, you certainly made a difference in the war! But, just because the Nazis and HYDRA are over, it unfortunately doesn't mean the country, no, the world, is safe."

Bucky and Steve exchanged a look in silence.

"When things have fully calmed down from post-war treaties and the like, perhaps after you've taken a bit of a vacation yourselves, come and work with us again," she offered. "Howard, Colonel Phillips, and I have begun a new chapter in counter-terrorism, intelligence, and security."

"Of course he will," Bucky said, with a crooked smile. "He's Captain America, what else would he do?"

Steve looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "We're a team," he said to Bucky, before turning to Peggy. "A packaged deal."

To his relief, she smiled. "But of course. Why wouldn't we want you both, and risk breaking up such a strong team? Though, I can't promise there won't be missions that require only one of you, or for you to work with others."

"That's fair," Steve agreed.

"Excellent," she said, smiling. "We'll be in touch soon enough. Until then, do enjoy yourselves," she said, hugging them before heading back into the throng of partygoers.

"Well, looks like you don't have to worry about being unemployed," Bucky commented.

"How about you?" Steve asked him, turning to look at him. "Are you ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?"

Bucky smirked at him. "Hell no. That little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight, I'm following him."

Steve smiled widely at him. "I'll take it."

"You're keeping the outfit, right?"

Steve laughed. "You know what? It grew on me, so, sure."

"You better, you punk," Bucky laughed. "Now, I believe you once promised me a dance, and I'm going to take you up on that," he said, taking Steve's hand and leading him onto the dance floor.


End file.
